By KEVIN TAYLOR
TOKOROA - Sixty Tokoroa sawmill workers were preparing to bed down at work last night in protest at working nights when the mill is idle during the day.
Twenty-four workers who usually do the evening shift went to the Carter Holt Harvey Tokoroa sawmill yesterday morning to start work.
They want to work days, and are concerned about health and safety.
The management did not meet the workers when they later gathered to stay the night in the smoko room to make their point.
Engineers Union delegate Robert Popata said the evening shift workers had been joined by the night shift group, and all had refused to work.
"The workers have decided that enough is enough, and this company needs to take health and safety more seriously."
CHH laid off one of the three shifts in August, with the loss of 23 jobs.
Since then, two 10-hour shifts have been starting work late in the afternoon and at midnight, because management had maintenance projects to be done and it was cheaper to employ contractors during the day.
Mr Popata said the contractors had now finished but workers were not being allowed to return to day work.
CHH Putaruru-Tokoroa manager Garry Boos said the mill upgrade had not been finished.
Many other issues were involved with production staff working nightshift, he said. One was that logs were now graded before going to the mill, and that had to be done during the day.
After the workers arrived at 7.45 am yesterday to start work, sawmill managers shut the machines down.
Engineers Union national secretary Andrew Little said workers were angry they and their families were having to put up with the effects of night work while the plant sat idle in the daytime.
Workers were being punished for exercising the right under their contract to refuse shift changes under which they would have worked an extra 14 days a year and lost an average fifth of their pay.
The social and physical effects of night work were well documented, and it was unreasonable for CHH to expect its staff to work nights when the plant was idle during the day.
Mr Boos said statistics showed there was no more chance of an accident at night than there was during the day.
"I think you will find almost all our mills run nearly around the clock."
He said the workers had been told they should turn up for work when rostered.
Tokoroa mill comes to a halt over shift demands
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